Feeling God's Presence

On Christmas Eve evening, Pete, the boys and I met my parents and my grandmother at church for the children's Christmas Eve mass. First we watched the special children's reinactment of Jesus in the manger and then Father Tarantino delivered his Christmas homily. He ended his homily by saying the following:

"Before we all depart and head back to our respective homes to celebrate Christmas with our families, I would like for everyone to close their eyes for just a moment...."

And so the congregation (including me) dutifully closed our eyes.

A split second later, I hear Kyle (who was sitting on my lap facing me) say, "No Mama! NO! Open your eyes." I opened my eyes and said, "Shhhh, Kyle, we need to listen. It's Father Tarantino's turn to talk." and I gently closed my eyes again.

"...I want everyone to take a moment, with your eyes closed, and just feel the presence of the Lord. During the craziness of the holiday season it's important to remember the true meaning of Christmas and this might be the only chance that you get to truly feel God's presence and..."

WACK!!! At the very moment that Father Tarantino mentions "feeling God's presence," I suddenly felt a sharp slap across my face. My eyes flew open and I found Kyle staring intently at me wagging his little 2-year-old finger back-and-forth. "No, Mama, NO!! No eyes closed! Open your eyes!"

PHEW - Nothing like feeling the "presence of the Lord" in real time!

Okay, God, I got your message loud and clear: You are present all around me; I can find you within all of the beautiful things that I love and cherish that surround me every day. I just need to keep my eyes open in order to "see."